Pages

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Thankful Thursday: With a Little Help From My Friends

Thankful Thursday is a
daily prompt at Geneabloggers that gives family historians an opportunity to
expresses gratitude for a person, resource, or family history tool.

Last Wednesday’s photo of this unidentified man in
uniform prompted several observations about his identity. Some thought he looked fatherly making me see
him as a younger man than I had been searching for in my travels through
Ancestry.

Some thought he looked heroic, as if he might have saved
the baby from some horrible fate. I had
considered that he might have been a fireman or policeman – what do I know
about uniforms? But I had presumed he
was surely related to the baby somehow.
Still the idea of a hero was an interesting thought.

My explorations of the Killeen family in New York
uncovered several railroad guards and conductors but no policemen. There might have been a fireman, I can’t
remember. So what kind of uniform was
that?

Taking Jacqi Stevens’ advice, I posted a query on the Uniforms
Identification board of Rootsweb asking for help in determining what kind of
uniform he was wearing. (I wasn’t even aware of “topics” message
boards, only surname.)

“YCaso77” promptly replied with this enlightening
information:

“He's a United States Navy officer- Lieutenant Junior
Grade by the one and a half lace rings on his sleeve. The device on his collar
is a lieutenants silver bar and his corps badge, from the star above his rank
insignia on the cuff he's a line officer (not dental, quartermaster, engineer
or any of the other naval officer groups).”

A line officer is one that has some command authority in
combat.

With a little help from friends I’ve never met, I now
know to look for a family member who served in the Navy at the time of World
War I.

Search This Blog

Award Free Zone

About Me

My name is Wendy. About twenty years ago, I helped my mother research the Jolletts. Since retiring from teaching, I have expanded my research which I share here. When I’m not looking for my own family, I index for FamilySearch and the Greene County Historical Society.
Welcome to Jollett Etc. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here. If you have more information or believe we are related, EMAIL ME at wendymath at cox dot net